whitney



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. s

HARRY O. WHITNEY AND CHARLES F. BITZ, OF NEW HAVEN, CONN., ASSIGN- ORS TO THE WINCHESTER REPEATING ARMS COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR UNCAPPING CARTRIDGE-SHELLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 243,022, dated June 14, 1881.

Application liled May 2, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, HARRY O. WHITNEY and CHARLES F. RITZ, both ot' New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented new Improvements in Devices for Removing Primers l'roinCartridge- Shells; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference 1o marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, and represent, in Figure 1,'a front view of the machine; Fig.

2, a vertical central section of the operative parts, enlarged; Fig. 3, a section enlarged to illustrate the operation.

This invention relates to a device for removing primers from cartridge-shells.

zo In the manufacture ot' cartridge-shells more or less defective primers are inserted in the shells, which, upon inspection, cause the shells to be rejected. From such shells the primers must be removed and perfect primers introduced. Again, shells in large quantities which have been discharged are returnedl to cartridge-manufacturers from the United States or State governments to be reloaded, and before such reloading can take place the exploded 3o primers must be removed, and the removal must be in such a way as not to injure the shell, either as to the seat of the primer or the holes inthe primer-seat.'

Various devices have been resorted to to successfullyT remove the primers; but in all cases a considerable loss has been experienced from shells damaged in the removal of the primer.

To overcome this difficulty and successfully 4o remove the primer without possible injury to the shell is the object of this invention; and it consists in a tubular spindle arranged to iit closely upon the inside of the primer-seat, combined with a supply of water or its-equiva- 4, 5 lent, and means for forcing the water through a tubular spindle upon the inside of the primcr-seat, whence it passes through the perforations in the primer-seat into the primer, communicating the forced pressure to the inside 5o of the primer, which pressure is sufficient to throw they primer from its seat, whether exploded or not.

The best apparatus for the application of this invention consists ot an apparatus some-v thing like a power-press, shown in the illus- 55 tration, in which A A are the two uprights, between which is a vertical slide, B, suitably guided, and to which a reciprocating motion is imparted by a crank or eccentric, C, on the driving-shaft D, and to which power is com- 6o municated through a pulley, E, in substantially the usual manner of operating the slide ot' a power-press.

The instrument applied to the slide and by which the work is performed is shown in ver'ti- 65 cal section, enlarged, Fig. 2.

a is the spindle, follower, or punch, constructed to enter the cartridge-shellfrom which the primer is to be removed. lts lower end is constructed with a cavity, b, substantially the 7o shape ofthe inner side ofthe primer-seat, and so as to close tightlyupon the primer-seat upon the inside of the shell, as seen in Fig. 3. The spindle is tubular-that is, is hollow, or has an opening, d, through it leading to the primerseat,ai'1d so as to communicate with the perforations through the priinenseat. The spindle a is attached lo or made a partot' a head or piston, e, arranged to slide within a cylinder, f, the said cylinder forming a water- 8o chamber, g, above the piston, with a valve, h, opening from the water-chamber to the spindle, and also provided with a valve, i, opening from the water-supply tube liuto the waterchamber. Each valve is provided with a light 8 5 spring, which will tend to hold them in their closed positions, and a spring is also arranged in the Water-chamber to bear upon the piston, the tendency of which is lto force the piston and spindle to which it is attached from the 9o cylinder. This device is applied to the slide B in the usual manner ot' applying punches and other tools thereto, a liexible or other tube,

m, leading Water to the water-chamber.

A cartridge-shell in which the primer is fixed is placed in a position directly beneath the spindle. The water-supply has filled the chamber g. .The slide B now descends, carrying the spindle a into the shell, and forces it close upon the inner side of the cap-seat, so roo source of supply,) and the force of the descendin g cylinder is thus applied to the water,

r driving it upon the primer withzarpower sufficient to force the primer from its seat. Then the slide B ascends, the piston returns by the force of the spring in the chamber g, the valve h closes by the force of its spring, and thus stops the flow of water from the chamber through the spindle, while a fresh supply comes through the valve i, to rell the chamber for the next operation. By this application of hydraulic pressure the cartridgeshell is not injured or liable to any of the accidents or injuries to which the ordinary method of removing primers is subject; and as the filling of the waterchamber and the entire operation is automatic, it is performed as quickly and with as great facility as with the usual apparatus.

1t will be readily understood that other devices than a power-press may be employed to apply hydraulic pressure. ltmay be done with a hand-tool, with a lever arranged to force the cylinder upon the piston, or it may simply be done with an apparatus asa hand-tool and a hammer to impart the blow to the cylinder to produce the required hydraulic pressure, water being supplied to the chamber before the blow is given.

In a power-inachine the shells may be presented by the usual dial-feed or other equivalent device, or simply placed by hand in their required position, there being an openin g through or in the seat on which the shell stands for the escape of the ejected primer.

While we prefer water or liquid as the means of communicating the force to the primer, it `willbe readily seen that air may be employed 5 the chamber g being filled with air instead of liquid, the compression of the airin the chainber will operate to eject the primer.

We claim- 1. A cartridge-primer ejector consisting of a tubular spindle tted to close upon the inner side of the cap-seat in the cartridge-shell, and mechanism, substantially such as described, to produce hydraulic or pneumatic pressure through the said spindle upon the interior of the primer in the primer-seat of the cartridgeshell, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a hollow spindle itted at one end to close upon the inner siderof the primer-seat in a cartridge-shell, its other end arranged to move in a cylinder with a chamber for air or Water, and so that the movemen t ofthe cylinder, substantially as described,

down upon the said spindle will compress the contents of the said chamber and force it therefrom through the spindle into the primer, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a hollow spindle constructed at one end to close upon the inner side of the primer-seat in a cartridge-shell, the other end arranged to move within a cylinder, the said cylinder lprovided with a supply of air or water, and a check-valve to prevent the return of the air or water from the cylinder to the supply when compression of the cylinder takes place, substantially as described.

4. The combination of a hollow spindle cons'tructed at one end to close'upon the inner side of the primer-seat in a cartridge-shell, the other end arranged to move within a cylinder, the said cylinder provided with a supply of air or water, a check-valve to prevent the return of the air or water from the cylinder to the supply when compression of the cylinder takes place, and a valve-opening from the cylinder to the spindle, substantially as described.

5. The combination of a hollow spindle constructed at one end to close upon the inner side oftheprimer-seat in a cart-ridge-shcll,the other end arranged to move within a cylinder, the said cylinder provided with a supply ot' air or water, a check-valve to prevent the return ot' the air or water from the cylinder to the supply when compression takes place, and a spring within the cylinder acting upon the spindle to force it from the cylinder after compression takes place, substantially as described.

HARRY O. WHITNEY. CHARLES F. BITZ.

Witnesses: v

DANIEL H. VEADER, JAMES N. KIMBALL. 

